MoreResearch Systems Inc. (RSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company, announced that it has released ENVI software 4.0. This software upgrade offers major new enhancements over previous versions of ENVI software including new image orthorectification tools, classification tools, mosaic color balancing, pan-sharpening algorithms and other features.
ENVI software is a powerful remote sensing image analysis and exploitation software tool that includes links to popular GIS software programs. ENVI software is used in a variety of industries, including natural resources, oil and gas, environment, archaeology, emergency response, military intelligence, defense, and homeland security.
“This new release of ENVI software offers many advantages to image analysts using data from a variety of popular platforms. In particular, our users will find ENVI software 4.0’s enhanced support for QuickBird and IKONOS high-resolution satellite data a very valuable contribution,” said Jim Kelley, vice president of product marketing for IDL and ENVI Business Lines at RSI. “This new feature allows customers to process both QuickBird and IKONOS data using the standard ENVI software without the need to purchase an extra cost module,” he added.
Kelley further explained that geo-locational accuracy is a requirement for many customers’ remote sensing applications. The availability of high spatial resolution imagery from the QuickBird and IKONOS satellites, coupled with ENVI software 4.0’s new functionality, provides enhanced capabilities for precisely locating objects of interest within an image, and perform tasks such as change detection and image sharpening with much higher accuracy than was possible before.
Among the new features available in ENVI software 4.0 are:
- The ability to orthorectify QuickBird and IKONOS satellite images using rational polynomial coefficient (RPC) models provided by the data vendors. This functionality allows those working with QuickBird and IKONOS data to create orthorectified images and precisely locate and measure image features, collect accurate location information for a GIS and do change detection analysis.
- A binary decision tree classification tool allows image analysts to combine information from multiple datasets into a single classification. A new interface lets users integrate decision logic created in other applications as well as interactively modify decision rules while viewing both the decision tree and the resulting classified image, resulting in time savings and process efficiency.
- The ability to automatically color balance images in a mosaic helps minimize the appearance of seams between images in mosaics. ENVI software 4.0 also allows color images to appear in the mosaic preview display, enabling users to achieve a more realistic preview of mosaics.
- A new atmospheric correction tool for thermal imagery, such as ASTER, MASTER, SEBASS and others, makes the thermal imagery more prepared for ENVI software's accurate ground emissivity and temperature calculations.
- Two new pan-sharpening algorithms provide results that more accurately preserve the information from the original images in many cases.
- Additional read capability for ENVISAT Level 2 imagery.
“With the addition of the new orthorectification tools for IKONOS and QuickBird, and the thermal atmospheric calibration tools, ENVI software is now, more than ever, an end-to-end image processing solution for multidisciplinary research environments,” said Peter Scarth, a postdoctoral scientist in the School of Geography, Planning & Architecture at the University of Queensland, Australia.
“I have been very pleased with ENVI software. The ability to ingest various data from different sources has made my work much less tedious. This is a very convenient situation for me and has helped my research,” said Todd Sanders, a senior research associate at the Oregon Graduate Institute, Beaverton. Sanders added, "The automatic color balancing option is very good idea. It works great for my Landsat imagery collected at different dates. I need color balancing for display purposes only, and ENVI software 4.0 fits the bill.”
Source: ENVI Software, Oct. 6, 2003
